Mac Jones Opens Old Patriots Wounds In Skills Competition With Tyreek Hill
BOSTON (CBS) -- Mac Jones is new around here. He's going to have to learn that we do not talk about the helmet catch. And we definitely don't celebrate it.
The rookie quarterback might not have gotten that memo and might not have had a choice, though, as he and Tyreek Hill combined forces to emulate the infamous catch made by David Tyree for the Giants 14 years ago in Super Bowl XLII.
The two were working together in the "Best Catch" competition during the Pro Bowl Skills Showdown in Las Vegas. With Tyree on the field as one of the judges, Hill decided to appeal to the former Giants receiver by donning a Tyree jersey T-shirt and pinning a pass to his helmet while making a catch.
Jones was the QB who made the throw. Watch below ... if you can bear it.
(Too bad Rodney Harrison wasn't there for a second chance to whack it away.)
Tyree, of course, gave Hill a score of 100 for the catch.
Jones, of course, likely doesn't feel too connected to the helmet catch. He was a 9-year-old in Florida when Tyree made that catch that helped sink the Patriots' perfect season, so it's not necessarily a major plot point of his life. It's nevertheless a bit jarring for Patriots fans to see their quarterback participate in such a moment.
Outside of the helmet catch, Jones also threw passes to Stefon Diggs -- on an incredible one-handed sideline grab, and on an homage to Bills fans that sent the receiver through a folding table -- during the "Best Catch" portion of the program.
Jones also struggled in the Precision Passing event but won the prestigious Thread The Needle challenge, ensuring he'll be leaving Las Vegas with one major victory in hand.
Jones was a late addition to the AFC's Pro Bowl roster, filling in for Joe Burrow, who's got another game to prepare for at the moment. Jones completed 67.6 percent of his passes while starting all 17 games in his rookie season, throwing for 3,801 yards with 22 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and one helmet catch. He'll now work to remove that last part from his stats in future seasons.
